---

So we are in full swing in our area’s summer celebrations.  Since the 4th of July lands next week, we will take a break from all of the festivities. Not sure about you, but these mid-week holidays are not my cup of tea. They make the whole work week kind of wonky.  I would prefer them on Fridays or Mondays to stretch out the weekends.  

Thanks to all who have put on the celebrations that have already taken place this summer and spring. Without the volunteers whp make up these celebrations, they wouldn’t exist.

Speaking of the 4th of July, we have had a bunch of calls asking if there are local fireworks.  North Branch fireworks are at dusk from the high school sports fields. Forest Lake will also hold theirs on July 4th, off of Lakeside Memorial Park in town.  Marine on the St. Croix will shoot their fireworks off July 3rd over downtown.  The next closest would probably be Blaine which shoots theirs off on July 4 at the National Sports Center.  As usual, the only local fireworks here are during the local celebrations such as Karl Oskar Days, Ki Chi Saga Days and Stagecoach Days.

Thanks to all who came out to PraiseFest on Sunday.  The grounds were busy all day with concert goers and kids playing. The music was fantastic and everyone was in such a great mood.  Thanks to the organizers for another great year!

“A Brush With Kindness”  is looking for a few volunteers to assist with a job in North Branch.  The job consists of installing new siding of the top of an older model mobile home park trailer.  The job is scheduled from July 6 to July 8.  If you are handy and have some time to donate (you don’t have to be there the whole time), then please give A Brush With Kindness a call at 651-329-3644.  

A Brush With Kindness is a non-profit organization that is faith based and its main purpose is to help our friends and neighbors whose homes are in need of repair and they are unable financially to fix them.  A Brush With Kindness does require the recipient of the work fund a small portion of the needed job.  

I am part of this organization, and I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that you will be so glad you volunteered.  

If you have caught a big fish locally, we would love to see it. We love running photos of fish caught in our local lakes. Send you photos to [email protected].

If you are a business that is planning a big sale in the future, please give us a call. We may be a small paper but we have the ability to get the word out better than anything.

---